Sign



sept. 15, 1936. o. A. JACKSON' SIGN Filed April 20, 1935 1NVENTOR(LAacKson ATTKORNEY.

Patented Sept. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES rPATENT OFFICE SIGN Orville A.Jackson, Des. Moines, Iowa Application April zo, 1935, 'serial No.11,481 -2 claims. (ci. 4ta-13s) The principal object of my'invention isto provide an attractive sign that is economical in manufacture anddurable in use.

A further object of this invention is to provide a sign for both day andnight use -that has no operating expense. i

A stili further object of my invention is to provide a sign that iscapable of successfully reecting light rays without blinding theobserver. A still further object of this invention is to provide a signof long life and one that is not damaged or affected by weather.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a sign of thereflector type that diffuses and directs the reiiected light rays atvariousangles.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claimsand illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a front view of my sign ready for use.

- Fig. 2 is an enlarged front View of a portion of the glass used in themanufacture of my sign.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of my sign takenon line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and more iully illustrates its construction.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged back view of a portion of my sign showing theshallow depressions in the back surface oi the glass used in making thesign.

There are many attractive signs for both night and day use now beingmanufactured. However, most ci these signs depend on a direct source oielectric current for their illumination at night l and are thereforecostly and complicated in manufacture and installation and have highoperation and maintenance costs. To eliminate such costs some signmanufacturers. have turned to the refleeting type of sign, where lightrays from such as automotive vehicle headlamps, etc., are picked up andredirected, thereby making the sign reaci-A able at night. The chiefobjections to rnost or' the signs of this character, however, arethat-they are easily broken, tend to blind the observer, and are usuallyobservable only from certain denite angles from the sign. I haveovercome such ob.` jections as will hereinafter be appreciated.

Referring to the drawing, I have used the numeral i0 to designate theglass upon the'back of which the indicia or character strokes of thesign are imposed.- The design, type, composition, and

construction of this glass..sheeting ill is highly important. Thisglassv i0 is of thecrystal clear variety and has integrally formed onits face or front a plurality of closely arranged comparatively smalllenses I i. These lenses Il are each of a convex arcular orsemi-spherical formationjnas shown in Fig. 3, and glass of this type isusually known in the trade as' hammered glass. i

The numeral I2 designates a plurality of comparatively shallowdepressions in theV back surface of theglass sheeting I 0. Thesedepressions veach cover a comparatively large area as shown in Fig. 4,and are therefore in` diameter much greater than the diameter of each ofthe lenses Il. The numeral it designates metallic wire meshgreinforcingimbedded throughout the area of the glass sheeting Iii. This reinforcingwire makes the glass sheeting of shatter-proof construction and addsgreatly tothe artistic appearance of the finished sign.

In manufacturing the sign the indicia or chafracter strokes are paintedor otherwise imposed on the back surface of the glass ,i. Obviously, anycolor may be used,lbut silver mirror paint is highly recommended due toits reecting prop' erties. In some instances, two or more colors will beused informing each character. In Fig. i, I show two colors, for eachcharacter, i. e.. a light or silver color for the center of eachcharacter and outlined with av darker color. I have used the numeral itto designate these character strokes or indicia painted or otherwiseimposed on the glass. After the characters have been placed on the glassthe entire back oi the glass andbacks oi' the characters it are coveredwith a. suitable protective paint i5. For most satis-s irregular backsurface of the glass the characters and protective paint coating willalso have their iace surfaces irregular and the bright rays wilttherefore be reected'at various angles through the glass it. This notonly makes the sign read able at almost any angie in iront of the sign,but

gives the characters and background a very desir-f able and attractivewavy appearance.

The small closely spaced apart lenses Ii successfully diuse the. lightrays passing through' the glass iii, thereby eliminating what wouldotherwise be a blinding eiect on the observer. As the lenses are eachsubstantially semi-circular in cross-section the diffusing of the lightrays will be leven and uniform. Even in the daytime thex sign pick upthe necessary light vforreecting purposes.

From the foregoing it will readily be seen that -I have provided a verydesirable inexpensive night and day sign. n

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement oi' myimproved sign and method of making same without departing from the realspirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my. intention to cover bymy claims any modified vformsof structure or use of mechanicalequivalents which may be reasonablyincluded within their scope.

I claim: 1. In a sign,.a sheet oi' glass material having a plurality ofshallow depressionsA in one of -its sides and a plurality of convexlenses on its other side; each of said shallow depressions having anarea substantially greater than thearea of any one of said lenses,andindicia on theside of said sheet of. glass having said shallowdepressions;`

said indicia having light ray teristics.

2. In a sign, a Islieetpof glass material having a plurality of shallowde ressions vin one of its sides and a plurality of convex lenses on itsother side; each of said-shallow depressions having an area reflectingcharacsubstantially greater than the area of any one of f said lenses,metallic reinforcing strand elements i embedded in said sheet of glassmaterial, and

